On The Move
Gretchen Garrett, a specialist in marketing, public relations, special event promotion and web site design, has joined Heritage Coffee Co. as its vice-president and director of marketing.

Young entrepreneur takes over downtown food carts
A day on the cart starts early - at about 8:15 am in a small kitchen off of Seward Street in downtown Juneau where tomatoes and lettuce need to be chopped, sauce dispensers filled, patties counted and famous guacamole prepared according to a secret recipe.

Cruise ship visitors slated to top 700,000
More than 700,000 cruise ship passengers are scheduled to tour, shop and gaze at Juneau this year, based on pre-season projections from the Juneau Convention and Visitors Bureau.The cruise season kicks off 2 p.m. April 30 with the arrival of Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Sky and ends at 10 p.m. Sept. 25 with the departure of Celebrity Cruises' Mercury. By summer's end, 718,633 cruise ship passengers and 315,038 crew members are scheduled to visit on 39 ships, according to JCVB totals.

Undermining the poor
On April 7, delegates to the 2002 convention of the League of Women Voters of Alaska passed a resolution opposing SB 182, Pro-Rata Reduction in Benefits.

An open forum
Thanks to the Juneau Empire for cultivating the input of citizens. That you have such a great influx of submissions is proof of your success. I personally believe that Alaska's most serious problem is that its citizens are not sufficiently involved.

An absurd idea
I am puzzled why there hasn't been more public outcry over the Assembly ramrodding the funding of the bus parking expansion in Marine Park. Maybe people are tired of the issue or think there is no hope of changing this decision. However, I find this project difficult to choke down and have to add my two cents.

On homeland security
I write in response to Maj. Gen. Oates' My Turn of April 17 regarding lack of legislative cooperation for homeland security. One first has to remember that it's a federal responsibility to guard our borders from foreign aggression - the states aren't supposed to be burdened.

Time to reflect
As I watched the sun set, I asked myself, "What happened?"When I was a child growing up I dreamed of becoming a baseball player or a construction worker and living out the American dream, owning a house with a wife and children running about.

Nurture imagination
This Wednesday two people wrote in strong letters about the American Dream. Yes! Keep writing, both of you! One was a powerful story told by an anonymous prisoner about the traps of alcohol; the other urged positive action in place of America's excessiveness.

More inspired
I remember Franklin "Shkane" Williams at Mt. Edgecumbe High School. I am very proud of his article and his explaining the fundamental principles embodied by the Founding Fathers of the Alaska Native Brotherhood.

Fireweed Place asking city for $100,000 bailout
Fireweed Place officials are asking the city for short-term financial help to stave off foreclosure of the downtown senior housing complex.Located on Willoughby Avenue, Fireweed Place apartments are for people 55 and older. Built in 1995, the building never has reached full occupancy and is struggling to pay off a loan from the Alaska Housing Finance Corp., said Tom Dahl, president of Senior Citizen Support Services, the nonprofit group that runs the building.

City will reconsider rejected applications
Juneau Assembly members on Wednesday directed the city's Social Services Advisory Board to review and score nine social service agency grant applications that were rejected for technical reasons.Earlier this month, the Social Services Advisory Board recommended the city use $472,000 to fund 15 local social service programs. The city received 26 applications for the money; nine were rejected because the applications weren't filled out correctly, advisory board members said.

High school bids well over budget
The city won't immediately award a contract to renovate Juneau-Douglas High School because the three bids opened Tuesday are over budget, city officials said."We're going to have to come up with more money, or we're going to have to scale back our project," the city's chief projects engineer, Rosemary Matt, told bidders Tuesday afternoon in Juneau Assembly chambers.

Social service agencies protest grant rejections
Nine Juneau social service agencies whose funding requests have been rejected are asking Juneau Assembly members to increase spending for the city's block grant program and to score grant applications on their merits.The city's Social Services Advisory Board declined to review nine applications for city block grant funding this month because the applications were filled out incorrectly. Specifically, board members said the needs statements in several of the rejected applications were longer than the required one page.

School District asks for more city funding
Officials from the Juneau School District told the Juneau Assembly on Wednesday evening they need more money from the city in the next biennium to maintain programs and bring underachieving students up to state standards.Some Assembly members questioned whether meeting that financial request will be possible given the city's tight financial situation this year.

Man awaits verdict in trial for stabbing
A Juneau jury is deciding today whether the stabbing of a Juneau man - the result of an argument about which one was the "real Alaskan" - was meant to cause serious injury or was self-defense.
George Shavers, 48, is on trial for stabbing acquaintance Barry Richards on Jan. 26 while they were drinking on Shavers' boat. He is charged with felony first-degree assault and felony tampering with evidence.

Schulz: Human rights linked to U.S. security
Like the rest of the country, William F. Schulz did not anticipate terrorists would hijack three commercial airliners and crash them into the World Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon last September.But as executive director of the human rights organization Amnesty International, Schulz knew human rights abuses left unchecked in other countries eventually would affect the United States.

Gardeners preparing for Southeast gathering
People Outside assume that we continually suffer under the weight of snow, are washed away by hurricane-strength storms or bemused by brain numbing winters. The thought that we in Southeast Alaska have one of the best gardening climates in the world is too strange for them to believe. Our long cool moist growing season gives us an incredible advantage when it comes to color longevity of bloom and rapid establishment of perennial color.

Neighbors Briefs
Emmanuel Baptist to hold open house; Parks Department now accepting vendor permits applications; Golf Club to hold annual meeting; Smiley participates in art exhibition; May 1 designated as Law Day in U.S.

Pet Of The Week
James is a 3-year-old neutered male gray/beige tiger medium-haired handsome guy. He is friendly and easygoing, yet prefers a one-on-one relationship.

Photo: New equipment
Tia Rose Morin, 4, sits in front of new dental equipment purchased by the Bartlett Regional Hospital Foundation. The $8,000 special pediatric X-Ray and processor are used in the operating room for children with special medical issues and those not served on a regular basis.

Alaska Ford dealers set up scholarship program
JUNEAU - Alaska Ford dealers have announced a new scholarship program, "Ford Country Scholars," that provides financial assistance to Alaska youth committed to following careers that support rural life.

Hospice and Home Care begins 'Good Grief Walk'
On Wednesday, May 1, Hospice and Home Care of Juneau will begin its weekly "Good Grief Walk," an hour-long hike along the Twin Lakes Trail for those who have suffered a loss, past or present. Social worker, Jamie McLean, began the Good Grief Walk last spring and is pleased to be starting her second season of walking and talking.

Empire reporter wins writing award
JUNEAU - Winners of the annual Southam Awards for excellence in sailing communication were announced recently in Miami.
The $5,000 cash grand prize was won by Paul Lagasse of Silver Springs, Md., whose article, "Taking It To the Wind," beat out 89 other entries in a variety of categories.

Thank You
...for the donations; ... for the effort.; ... for the show; ...for the support; ...for all the effort; ... for all the help; ...for the volunteering.

My Turn: Envision new 'American Dream'
I speak from the vantage point of being the granddaughter of immigrants, those who came to this country at the beginning of the last century, I'm guessing largely due to what we have come to call the "American Dream." That dream grew naturally and innocently enough in response to experiences of great hardship for countless people from many countries, and they journeyed here on the strength of that dream, for themselves and for their children, that life should, and could, be better than what they had known before.

Recognition for jobs well done - on deadline
I'd like to visit with you about last Sept. 11 and put it in the context of last Saturday night. The broader focus - pretty much all of 2001 - will follow.
We're just journalists here at the Empire. Not smarter than you. Subject to the same temptations and emotions.

My Turn: Reporter keeps crystal ball to himself
Bill McAllister's Capitol Notebook (Empire, Sunday, April 21) described the two-minute per person testimony limit at Senate Finance Committee public hearing last Thursday and Friday in the most abhorrent, slanted way possible.

My Turn: Addressing the subsistence issue
"A system which provides subsistence opportunities for all Alaskans, but which affords a priority for some residents in time of limited resources, may achieve greater justice ... if it is created prudently and administered responsibly," say the Catholic Bishops of Alaska in their April 12 pastoral letter.

KTOO Day One Race
Results from the Southeast Road Runners club's KTOO-Day One Race held Saturday in downtown Juneau. There were two events, a five-kilometer fun run and a one-mile race.

Amateur night
On Wednesday night, the young boxers streamed into the Juneau Douglas Boxing Club gym in the Salmon Creek Professional Center and started working out.Nicholas Danielson, 17, Anthony Manacio III, 20, and Trevis Dallas, 16, all started punching at heavy bags hanging in one end of the gym. Tanya Lerum, 15, was in the ring sparring with trainer Delfin Evenson, while 8-year-old Alesa Abbott and Ryan Braman were wrapping their hands so they could start working out.

Sharing the knowledge
Marcus Schaufele was sweeping the floor, then laying out mats a half hour before the Capital City Judo Club met Tuesday night at Riverbend Elementary School.On April 13, Schaufele won the title in the age 35-39, 81-kilogram (178.2 pounds) division at the USA Judo National Masters Championship in Cleveland, Ohio. But Tuesday night, he was back in Juneau teaching his students.

Knowles calls for fiscal vote
Gov. Tony Knowles said this morning that he will push both houses of the Legislature to vote on a revenue-raising package.While not explicitly threatening vetoes or a special session, the governor said in an interview that the public would be poorly served if the state's fiscal gap isn't addressed in a "meaningful" way.

Senate panel seeks tighter abortion rules
The Senate Finance Committee approved a bill Tuesday tightening the rules for state funding of abortions.Senate Bill 364 is a response to some lawmakers' frustration with a Supreme Court decision requiring the state's Medicaid program to pay for medically necessary abortions for poor women.

State Briefs
Eagle to be released at Brotherhood Bridge; District to conduct support staff study; Board requests land for school use; Quake shakes Adak

Tesoro loses bid to limit probe
ANCHORAGE - The Alaska Supreme Court has ruled against Tesoro Petroleum Corp. in its attempt to limit the scope of the state attorney general's gasoline price-fixing investigation.

Flu hits Anchorage school students
ANCHORAGE - State health officials say what appears to be a second flu outbreak has sickened Anchorage school children.
All cases are limited to Anchorage, state virologist Don Ritter said, but the flu may spread. Children ages 10 to 15 have been hardest hit, he said.

Senate adds $27 million in spending to state budget
Senate Republicans are boosting funds for education by about $18 million in the 2003 state budget.About $27 million for education, public safety, alcohol treatment, tobacco cessation, courts and the corrections system has been added to the House-passed budget without increasing the general fund, said Finance Co-Chairman Dave Donley of Anchorage.

State Briefs
Missile launched as part of exercises; 11th labor group backs Ulmer; Physicians leader speaks on sanctions

Repairs on fire-damaged oil platform could take until May
ANCHORAGE - The Cook Inlet oil platform damaged by a weekend flash fire could be out of service until mid-May, according to Unocal Corp.
Federal safety regulators are investigating the cause of Saturday's fire, which injured four workers and shut down one-fifth of the inlet's oil production.

Pelican hosts annual music festival, dirty-song contest
Pelican's fourth annual Boardwalk Boogie will kick off May 16. The three-day music festival features dancing, live music and other activities.Highlights of the festival are afternoon cafe concerts, open mike jams, square dancing and the infamous "Filthy Song and Slit Yer Wrist Song Contests."

'Money' looks at the pros of cons
The Girl discovers that aging salesman Walter Sherman has a soft spot for con artists.
Sherman and The Girl are the sole characters in "Money," a new work by Anchorage playwright Dick Reichman. "Money" just wrapped up an extended debut run at Anchorage's Off Center Playhouse, widely known as Cyrano's, and comes to Juneau for two performances, April 27 and 28, at Perseverance Theatre.

Alaska writers featured in late-night theater fest
The misadventures of a rock star and the glory of food will be celebrated in Perseverance Theatre's new Midnight Theatre Festival. Three new plays by Alaska writers will be presented in coming weeks in the Douglas theater.

Best Bets: Theater, fine film opportunities abound
We can thank Anchorage for some fine entertainment in Juneau this weekend.Anchorage playwright Dick Reichman is playing Samuel Taylor Coleridge in Perseverance Theatre's newest offering, "Lost in Kubla Khan." The role brought Reichman to Juneau, and Reichman, a playwright as well as an actor, is bringing his newest play, "Money," to town.

Movies Where & When
The Best of the Anchorage Film Festival, 7:30 p.m., Monday and Tuesday, April 29 and 30, at Perseverance Theatre, two hours of short movies by national filmmakers, same films both nights. Tickets $10 at Hearthside Books and at the door.

Traveling film fest showcases shorts from around the country
The Academy Award-winning short film "Helicopter" and the animated "Hypertension" are among the short films featured in The Best of the Anchorage Film Festival 2001.
The traveling show of seven films from the festival will be in Juneau for two showings, at 7:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, April 29 and 30. A screen will be set up on the set of "Kubla Khan" at Perseverance Theatre. Admission is $10 and tickets are available at Hearthside Books and at the door.

Five artists hold group show
JUNEAU - "You Gotta Have Art," a one-day exhibit of new artwork by Tisket Seslar, Ellen Northup, Sara Goese, Michael Phelps and Melissa Goese-Goble, will be held noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 27.
The show and sale will be in the new hall at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, 4212 Mendenhall Loop Road. Northup said there may be almost 200 pieces in the show.

The prose of 'Khan'
Sometimes dreams come true - and sometimes they come to life.
Just as Samuel Coleridge's ballad "Kubla Khan" came to the poet in a dream, Coleridge himself comes to Virginia Anderson in a dream, opening a play set in Virginia's imagination.